Straight in the Eyes
by HauntedPast
Summary: What if Chase recognised the Covenant's weakness and used it against them?  Baby Boy Tyler.  Oneshot.


**Disclaimer**: I don't own _The Covenant_, though I do think it is an exquisite ensemble piece. The characters are not mine, but this story is.

**Summary**: What if Chase recognized the Covenant's weakness and used it against them. Baby Boy Tyler. One-shot.

x

x

x

x

* * *

x 

**Straight in the Eyes**

x

* * *

x

x

He fumbled with the keys as he managed to open the door and, to his credit, refrain from slamming it.

"Fuck you, Reid," He muttered to himself as he paced, too angry to sit or sleep. He fleetingly wondered how he'd been able to drive back without wrecking.

The seventeen year-old brunette fumed heatedly as he thought about the conversation turned fight that he'd just had with his best friend. It still surprised him that he could have said some of the things he did. He just wasn't antagonistic by nature.

Reid Garwin, on the other hand, was rather mouthy when he lacked polite restraint, and he usually lacked that anywhere but the Provost's office.

What the blonde had said to him, in front of the other covenant brothers no less, was still ringing in his head—it wouldn't be fading anytime soon.

'_Face it, Baby Boy, you're the weakest one of us, and there's nothing you can do about it…'_

His blue eyes blazed at the memory and he kicked the bed, hearing a satisfying wooden crunch under the assault of his steel-tipped boot.

A rustle suddenly caught his attention, and he turned, looking for the creator of the disturbance. He saw no one, his paranoia further heightened when he saw that his door was closed, and locked.

Another whoosh of fabric and a small breeze had the hair on the back of his neck standing up on end, while a cold drop of sudden sweat weaved its way down his temple.

"Reid?"

A sudden creak sounded, which he recognized coming from the weak spot in the floor boards near the window. He turned, still seeing nothing at all.

"Reid, quit fucking around!" Tyler shouted, a warning in his normally smooth voice.

A book tumbled suddenly off his desk, and the Warlock stiffened a moment, spinning towards the sound. He didn't notice his keys slip from his shocked fingers as the breath left him in one hard gasp.

He came face to face with Chase Collins.

And blacked out.

x

x

* * *

x

x

Pogue could have killed the blonde after what he did, were it not for the pact of brotherhood, which Reid seemed to have either forgotten all about or felt willing to shatter tonight with little guilt, if any.

Being in the back alley behind Nicki's didn't help the temptation to beat Reid up for harassing Tyler, either. His fingerless biker gloves tightened in his clenched grip, the leather bending and stretching to accommodate his growing anger with the boy in front of him.

"Reid, of all the idiotic things you have done, this…" Caleb couldn't even finish, Pogue noted, instead having to turn away from the arrogant blonde as he ran a hand over his face and regained his composure.

No sense in having two fights tonight.

"Goddammit, Reid! You know how he feels about these things!" Pogue shouted, waving his arms about as if to emphasize his ire. He knew it wasn't really necessary—simply gravy.

The reprimanded Magick user stuffed his hands in his pockets, hunching his shoulders while he stared down and scuffed dirt with his shoes. Pogue thought that look meant that Reid felt could be down there, below his owns sneakers.

Any one could see he felt like dirt anyway.

x

x

* * *

x

x

After receiving a mild shock in the form of an angry and storming out Tyler, Reid had calmed and realized what he had said, getting sicker and sicker with each memory. He was not one to usually feel guilt or shame, but in this case, he felt them both burning in his gut. Their youngest had confided in him, his best friend, about his feelings of uselessness, and the blonde had betrayed that confidence so easily in the back corner of Nicki's while sipping beer and shooting pool.

Reid remembered the raised voices and the sharp sting of forbidden words they had thrown at each other, but he had to admit, it was him that instigated the whole thing. It had ended with Tyler abruptly leaving after vehemently calling him a grade-A bastard.

"You of all people should know how he'd react! Did you think he was just going to sit and let you spill his secrets?" Caleb asked, a tone of reprimand mingling with his 'leader' voice.

"Hell, Caleb, I don't know what happened. I don't know why I got so fucking carried away!" Reid shouted back at him, realizing he had surprised his older friend by the fact that, despite his volume level, the boy was realizing his actions and at least trying to take responsibility for them.

"Reid, I want you to go find Tyler, and apologize to him, right now," Caleb said, fisting the front of the blonde's shirt in his hands as he made his point. "We aren't supposed to have this kind of fighting—we're brothers. And you are going to fix that tonight, got it?"

The other senior nodded slowly, a bit stunned at the ferocity that was contained behind his leader's eyes. Now he really felt like shit.

He looked over to Pogue, wondering if he would get any support at all. Not so. His friend was glaring at him almost worse than Caleb.

Right, time to go find Tyler.

"Alright, I'm going." He said, raising his hands in surrender.

He felt Caleb's eyes on him as he turned and left. Hopefully, as he heard Pogue whisper something to his leader, those eyes would be happier after this.

x

x

* * *

x 

x

Reid got to the dorms in record time, driving all the way from Nicki's at what he knew was an illegal speed. The faster he got to Tyler, the sooner he could get this over with.

Pushing the key into the lock on the door, he swung the large wooden panel open, expecting to see his friend on the bed, either sleeping or sulking.

He wasn't there.

"Tyler? Are you here?" Reid asked, standing in the doorway incase of the need to make a quick exit should Tyler start throwing things at him. He'd done it before with no remorse.

"Where are you, Baby Boy?" he questioned once more, taking a few steps into the room. Something crunched under his boot and he leapt back a foot or two, his heart rate picking up.

Tyler's car keys stared up accusingly at him from their spot on the hard wood floor.

Tyler's keys.

On the floor.

_Shit!_

Struggling to get his phone out of his pocket, he fumbled with the buttons, dialing Caleb's number as fast as he could.

"_Hello?"_

"Caleb, Tyler's not in here,"

"_What? He's not?"_

"No, but his car keys are. They were on the floor. Something's not right here, Caleb."

"_Alright, just hang tight for a second. Pogue and I'll be there soon."_

Reid growled as the connection ended, shoving the phone back in his pocket. After a second thought, he pulled the object back out and dialed Tyler's cell number, hoping to God that it was just negligence on his friend's part that his keys were left on the floor and anger that kept him from returning to the dorms.

"C'mon, Baby Boy, pick up, pick up…" Reid muttered as the phone connected.

"_We're sorry, the number who have dialed is not available—"_

"Shit!"

Reid snatched the phone from his ear as though it had burned him and had to curse himself for being so nasty to his best friend earlier.

Reid kicked his bed as he paced frantically, his phone still in hand as he tugged on his hair. He never should have said those things to Tyler, not after he had promised to keep those things a secret from the others.

"Reid!"

The blonde's head shot up at his leader's voice and he turned to see him and Pogue barrel through the open door.

"Tyler still not here?" Pogue asked, hesitance in his voice.

Reid shook his head.

"Look, he can't be too many places if he left his car keys here. Maybe he went for a walk or something—" Caleb said, and Reid knew he was just trying to be reasonable before they all started to panic.

"I thought he might have, but when I called his phone, it was disconnected. Tyler always has his phone on." Reid said, punctuating each word in the last sentence with a firm pounce of both his open hands.

"Lose something, boys?"

x

x

* * *

x 

x

The three seniors turned in the direction of the door with varying levels of surprise, which quickly turned to anger as Chase Collins stepped up to stand in the doorway of Reid and Tyler's room.

"Fuck you, Collins!" Reid sudden declaration would have startled Caleb, had he not been expecting it from the blonde, especially after tonight's drama. He was glad to see Pogue restrain him with an arm around his shoulders and a hand planted on his chest.

"Temper, temper," Chase clucked, waving his finger in the air with that goddamn holier-than-thou expression on his face.

"Where is he?" Caleb's voice was dangerous and low, and he could see Chase wondering if he might a gone a little too far too soon.

"Who?"

Caleb clenched his teeth, hearing a snarled, "Bastard!" from Pogue behind him.

"Little lost Tyler?" Chase asked, with the most innocent expression on his face that Caleb ever knew was a lie.

Behind him, it was Reid who growled this time, and he could imagine that Pogue's expression was thunderous. He was probably seconds away from letting Reid go to get at the Warlock himself.

Caleb just waited, clenching his fists till he thought he might bleed.

"He had a little run-in with me in the dorms," Chase chuckled, sporting that crazy grin again that flashed mal intent. "Quite the screamer, that one," he commented offhandedly.

Reid lunged at Chase, a ferocious curse on his lips, and Caleb saw Pogue's eyes go black before he could contain his friend again.

"Just tell us what you want, Collins," Caleb said, his patience depleting as his voice rose from its usual calm.

"Me?" Chase asked, gesturing to himself with surprise. "Nothing really. Just having a little fun, is all." A snake-like smile plagued his face and Caleb had to hold himself back with his powers before he went all out on the guy.

"Chase—"

"It's a nice night for a swim, don't you think so, Caleb?"

With those parting words, and a sort of smirking salute, Chase's form faded away, puffing out in a swirl of smoke.

Caleb looked to his friends, noticing their growing looks of horror as they began to realize Chase's meaning.

They were out the door and sprinting towards the indoor pool before the door had time to slam.

x

x

* * *

x

x

Feeling his muddy consciousness started to clear and push him to wakefulness, Tyler groaned, suddenly aware of a throbbing pain on the back of his head. His fumbling fingers tried to reach up to touch the bump he knew was there, but he found something slightly disturbing.

He couldn't move.

His eyes shot open in alarm and he looked around to find himself floating in a standing position in the pool building of the school. In fact, if the sloshing sounds behind him and the reflections on the wet tile floor were true, he was right at the edge of the pool.

There was no light, save for the illuminating glow that the full moon cast through the building's tall windows. No one else was here.

"Oh, God…" He whispered, his fear beginning to spike.

"You can call me Chase," an amused voice sounded from his right, but without the ability to move, he could only wait for the bastard to enter his field of vision.

After a moment, Chase Collins stepped in front of him, his hands in his jacket pockets and a devilish grin splitting his face in half.

Chase raised a hand and Tyler could feel himself being lowered to the ground, sighing slightly in relief when his feet touched the floor, though he remained wary. It was then he realized Chase was doing this—why he couldn't move and the reason his powers were of no use. The guy was simply stronger than him.

"What the hell, Collins? What are you doing to me?"

"You, my dear Tyler, are bait," Chase said, pointing at the brunette with his index finger, while his eyebrows climbed informatively.

"For who? Caleb?" Tyler said, glaring at the other man with no little hatred. "He's not that stupid." He knew Chase had to have figured that out by now.

"No," Chase smirked, spinning around to pace lightly in front of him. The tone in his voice made Tyler's skin crawl with dread. "But he is that desperate. You are his brother, after all."

"Why use me? I thought you wanted his power." Tyler stated, trying to stall, hoping against hope that his brothers would get to him before the teen in front of him did anything that could get him killed.

"Oh, I do, I do," Chase said, nodding his head and pausing a moment. His movements and mannerisms were quirky and Tyler was beginning to realize just how insane this guy really was.

"But I also want to break him—him and the rest of the Covenant," Chase's head snapped up and the self satisfied grin disappeared from his face, while a dark snarling one replaced it.

Before he could blink, Chase's hand shot out and pushed sharply on Tyler's chest as he screamed, "I want to HURT HIM!"

As he felt Chase's powers unhand him, Tyler was left with the heart stopping sensation of free fall. And for once, the youngest Covenant member was truly afraid of Chase.

His body jolted as he felt himself plunged into the cold water around him.

He tried to struggle back to the top, only to find that something was holding him down. The water was rushing around him from his thrashing and the millions of tiny bubbles blocked any sort of sight he had of the water's surface. His flailing and kicking arms and legs were no help to him. He couldn't get air. He had no idea which way was up.

He screamed for Reid, and Pogue, and Caleb to save him just as the water entered his mouth and nose.

x

x

* * *

x

x

The doors to the indoor pool flew open slamming into the walls and leaving impressive cracks in the tile.

Caleb wasted no time in dashing into the dimly lit building, hearing his friends just behind him.

His heart jumped in his throat as he rounded the corner and saw Chase, laughing and standing with arm stretched out over the edge of the pool.

Oh, God—someone was in the water, and Chase was using his power to hold them down.

A hand suddenly breached the surface and Caleb caught a glimpse of a ring.

Tyler.

"Caleb, Tyler's in the—"

The Covenant leader unleashed an attack of power at Chase before Pogue had a chance to finish.

Reid and Pogue followed suit, launching their own assault at the maniac not thirty feet away from them.

"Shit," Caleb breathed, totally speechless as Chase merely raised his free hand and caught his power, letting it absorb the other two following.

"Fuck!" The young Danvers heard Reid curse.

Chase sent it back to them tenfold before they had any chance to dodge.

Pogue and Reid hit the tile wall behind them with a wham, but Caleb managed to use his power and skid to his feet before he came too close to the wall.

"You're a bastard, Chase! Let him go!" Caleb roared, feeling as thought the very foundations of the building quivered under his voice's echo.

Chase just laughed and pushed his hand down lower, and with a furious profanity, Caleb realized he was pinning Tyler to the bottom of the pool.

"He's gonna drown!" Pogue screamed at him, his eyes black as night as he picked himself up from the floor, and lent a hand to Reid.

"If you want him to live so badly," Chase began, a smirk revealing his white, pointed teeth. "You'll have to beat me."

Caleb bellowed and brought his hands over his head to form a power ball that was actually able to hit the bastard son of Ipswich and stun him. The covenant leader, though he couldn't hear what the man said over the drumming of his own heartbeat, saw the look of surprise that crossed his face, probably shocked that he had been able to get past his defenses.

Caleb blocked the next hit, sending it crashing into the wall and leaving a very sizeable dent. He chanced a glance back at his two friends behind him to see them powering up to fight Chase as well.

"I'll take care of Chase," The tall brooding boy yelled over the hum of power and shouts of his opponent. "Just get Tyler!"

He ground out the order, barely able to dodge the next hit. He would have to take Chase by surprise if he was going to beat him. He was just more powerful than him any other way.

Taking a glance at the diminishing whirlpool of struggle in the pool, Caleb remembered he didn't have much time.

x

x

* * *

x

x

"Pogue, dive in and get him! I'll try to help Caleb break the hold!" Reid shouted to his friend, his eyes going back and his hands clawed towards Tyler.

The blonde watched his friend dive in after shedding his leather jacket and tried to concentrate on finding the string of power fastening his best friend under water.

He closed his eyes and tried to see all the magical auras in the large tile room. He could clearly see Caleb, who was in front of him—he hoped to God that his leader would prevent any stray power balls from hitting him while he was in a trance.

Pogue he could see off to the left, and Reid knew he was in the pool with Tyler.

But he couldn't see Tyler's aura very well. It was faint.

He thought he heard a vague, "Re…hurry…", but shook his head and tried to focus on the task at hand.

_Damn it_, _concentrate!_

If he was ever going to get the chance to apologize to Tyler after this whole thing was over, he was going to have to focus on his job and just trust that Pogue would save their youngest.

He found Chase, burning brightly farther in front of him than Caleb. God, did he have a strong power around him. The punk gambler squinted and in the darkness he could see a small string going from Chase's outstretched hand to Tyler.

Reaching forward with his mind, the young warlock was able to grip the stream, finding it surprisingly solid in comparison to its appearance. Biting back a cry from the magical sting of a foreign power, he pulled hard, twisting and stretching, trying with all his might to break the hold on Tyler.

Infusing some of his own power into the stream, he weakened it, and with a well placed yank, caused it to shatter.

x

x

* * *

x 

x

Ripping his arms out of his jacket, Pogue chucked it to the side, not caring in the least where it landed, and dove into the chilly water.

He opened his eyes, and though the chlorine stung them at first, he left them open to search for Tyler. Spotting the brunette to his left, he swam over quickly, and remembered at the last minute not to open his mouth.

Tyler looked to have just run out of air, if the amount of bubbles and struggling around him were any indication. His eyes were closed and Pogue panicked when the boy's thrashing relented, and he was still.

Pogue swam closer and took in the sight of his closed eyes, and the bubbleless surroundings and panicked, pulling at the boy's clothes and arm to drag him to the surface. He wouldn't budge. Chase's power was too strong.

The biker gave his breath of air to the brunette, hoping if he couldn't immediately get him out of the water, he might be able to keep him alive until he could.

Swimming to the surface, he took a breath, screamed at Reid to hurry up, and swam back down with a breath of air for Tyler. Again he tried pulling the boy up with him, but the spell was still on him, and Pogue couldn't move him.

Breaching the water's surface he brought another breath back down for his youngest brother, hoping it would be the last time he would have to. Pinching he nose, he forced air into the brunette's lungs, and tried to pull him up this time.

With a sudden ripple disturbing the water, he was able to bring the boy to the surface with him, and break through with a needy gasp.

x

x

* * *

x 

x

Caleb watched Chase's face become incredulous and his black eyes lock onto Reid behind him.

_Did he just…?_

Hoping he was right, Caleb chanced a look back to his blonde friend, who was running toward the pool. Pogue had just broken through the surface, his arms full of Tyler.

"Now or never," he whispered to himself, before punching a power ball, and two extra kicks at Chase, whose eyes were still locked on the group by the pool.

By the time he saw the attack coming, he had no time to dodge.

The power blasted him right into the far back tile wall, where he fell to the floor, leaving a few cracks behind. He didn't get up.

Caleb saw a small puddle of blood forming under his head, and hoped that he would stay unconscious long enough for them to get out of here.

"Tyler!"

The panicked yell jerked him back to reality, and he spun to see Pogue laying their youngest on the wet tile floor, Reid hovering on the other side of the prone brunette.

_Oh, God_…

Caleb ran over to the three, skidding to his knees beside them.

Reid looked up, fear in his normally confident eyes.

"Caleb, he's not breathing!" The blonde cried, even as Pogue began to bestow two breaths. He motioned for Reid to start chest compressions and he did, frantically pushing down on Tyler's sternum to get him breathing again.

Caleb watched in unease as Pogue pinched the boy's nose again and gave him two breaths, before bending down and listening for breathing.

Reid pumped his chest again, and the million dollar heir saw tears gathering in his eyes, just as he knew they were falling down his own cheeks.

He saw Pogue rip his gloves off, the new ones he'd gotten to ride his motorcycle, apparently thinking they were getting in the way of saving Tyler, before he was at it again, already panting from the effort of breathing for his brother for so long.

"C'mon, Tyler, don't give up on us yet," the biker begged, continuing with his administrations.

"Damn it, Tyler, come on!" Caleb cried, leaning anxiously over the boy near his legs.

Their cries went unheard by Tyler, whose lips at this point had turned blue and whose face had paled considerably from its normal rich tan. Every time Reid pumped his chest, the unresponsive boy's body just jerked, his face never changing.

"C'mon, Baby Boy, breathe," Reid gasped as he continued compressions after Pogue gave the boy another two breaths. "Just," pump "Fucking," pump "Breathe!" The blonde growled out at last, panting as he spoke between each thrust of his arms.

Caleb quickly took Reid's place when the blonde showed the first signs of tiring. He had long ago shed his black overcoat, and was now working furiously to get his brother back. It felt like they had been doing this for hours, when, in fact, it had only been a few minutes since Pogue had pulled Tyler from the water.

The covenant leader alternated with Pogue, breathing and pumping, even as the leader felt Reid at his side. The blonde was leaning over Tyler, clutching his pant leg as tears made their way down his face. It occurred to him somewhere in all this, that Reid hadn't yet had the chance to apologize to his friend, and taking a glance at him, Caleb knew he was hurting.

"Tyler," Reid beseeched the prone teenager. "Tyler, don't you do this! Don't do this to us, man!"

Caleb saw Pogue weeping now, too, silent tears making their way down his wet cheeks, mingling with pool water and other camouflaged tears as he continued to breathe for the youngest warlock. The covenant leader could tell that he was losing hope.

Seeing Reid also in near hysterics, who was usually such a flippant badass, only served to strengthen his resolve as he worked, when a sudden idea hit him.

"C'mon, Tyler, if this doesn't help you," Caleb said, angry tears in his eyes as he watched his baby brother's expressionless face. "I don't know what will."

The next compression he did was filled with an extra punch of his power.

Pogue and Reid felt it, too.

"Caleb…" His leather clad friend mouthed, momentarily stunned at his actions, and perhaps angry at himself for not thinking of it first.

"Don't stop!" Caleb barked, pumping down on Tyler's chest with power drenched hands.

Pogue immediately gave Tyler two breaths, and the younger Danvers saw him wait for his leader to finish compressions.

Beside him, Reid was watching with baited breath, barely moving as he watched the two older boys work.

"C'mon, Baby Boy," Caleb heard him whisper.

And suddenly, as wonderful as the cry of a newborn baby, Tyler coughed.

Water spilled out of his mouth and he choked and gagged on it, gasping for breath where he could get it. Pogue slipped a hand under his shoulder and lifted the brunette, turning him on his side to keep him from choking.

Caleb reached around and rubbed Tyler's back, wincing when the boy still couldn't find his breath. An impossible amount of water was being expelled from his lungs, and the covenant leader knew they were all thinking it was a miracle.

"You're okay, Ty, just breathe," Pogue said, his hand cushioning his brother's head from the cold, hard tile floor.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of coughing and choking on water, Tyler was able to breathe, albeit precariously, and he looked blearily up at the three faces above him.

"Guys," he said, panting, and unable to really move just yet, it seemed. "Chase—"

"We know," Reid said, taking his best friend's wet hand in his.

"Don't worry, Baby Boy," Pogue said, smiling when Tyler was able to focus on him. "Caleb took care of him for now. You're safe." He finished, gently ruffling the boy's wet hair.

"Good," the brunette sighed quietly, his eyes slipping closed. Pogue looked panicked when he went limp in his arms, but Caleb calmed him.

"It's okay, I think he's just exhausted." He said, staring down at his brave little brother.

He heard Pogue exhale shakily, and when he looked up, the biker was wiping away his tears.

He caught Caleb looking and glared, his voice a little higher than usual when he spoke, "What?"

Caleb just smiled a relieved smile and swiped his tears away, too, his mood rubbing off on his friend.

He looked over at Reid and found his blonde head bowed, and his fists clenched in Tyler's wet shirt. "Reid?"

A little sob escaped the blonde boy, which was completely uncharacteristic, before he raised his head and choked out, "He's okay, oh, God, he's okay…"

Pogue let a short burst of laughter past his lips before he pulled the younger man to his side firmly, his free arm cast reassuringly around the boy's trembling shoulders.

Caleb reached over and placed his hand on Reid's blonde head, laughing affectionately.

"Come on, you two, let's get Tyler into some dry clothes," He said, standing and grabbing his jacket. He found Pogue's a moment later, and took that as well, shaking a little water from it.

Pogue stood, hoisting his friend's smaller body into his arms after hooking a wet limb around his neck. The brunette let out a moan and rested his head against his friend's soggy shoulder, his other arm dangling limply in the air.

"I know, I know," Pogue groaned, a smile brightening his tense face as he walked through the entrance to the night outside. "I'm disturbing your beauty sleep."

A slight chuckle sounded behind Caleb, and he turned, hooking a friendly arm around Reid's shoulder as they too ventured outside.

x

x

* * *

x

x

The walk back to the dorms had been uneventful.

Mercifully, the four hadn't run into any security personnel or faculty that would have asked questions that they didn't have answers to. Reid was thankful. None of them had any energy left to use their powers on anyone. Least of all come up with a good explanation.

Reid had pulled out his keys and unlocked the door, letting everyone in before he bolted the door again. He wasn't taking any chances with nosey neighbors.

They'd stripped Tyler of his wet clothes, finding a dripping wet phone in his pocket, and not even blinking when they'd pulled off his wet boxers, before getting a pair of dry ones, along with a dry t-shirt. They'd nearly lost him tonight, Reid knew—they could handle anything for a while.

Now they were in Reid's dorm, after Pogue had left, promising to come back in a minute, sitting around the room while Tyler slept in his bed. They were on guard, but the blonde warlock supposed it was better to be safe than dead.

Reid moved forward from his perch on the side of his friend's bed, remembering something he'd seen earlier when they were changing the brunette. He could feel Caleb watching him, but he was merely observing, not warning him.

The blonde moved back the covers, glad to see that his friend had finally regained some color in his cheeks and lips. Sliding the boy's shirt up, he spotted a large bruise glaring at him from the middle of Tyler's chest.

He looked up at Caleb, his cool hand fingering the dark bruise. "Should we ice it?"

The older boy shook his head at him, saying, "Probably not yet. We should concentrate on keeping him warm, then worry about swelling."

"What about the bump on the back of his head?" Reid asked, looking back down at his best friend.

He heard his leader sigh.

"I think the swelling's gone down far enough that we don't have to worry too much about it. The cold water might have done the job."

Reid nodded, shivering at the thought of his friend in that pool. Of course, they were swimmers, they practically lived in the water, but after tonight, the blonde knew it might take him a little while before he was willing to trust it again.

"Reid."

Said boy glanced up at his friend's tone. That was his 'Leader' voice.

"You did what you could. We saved Tyler, and he's okay. Everything's fine." Caleb's voice, originating from the chair on the other side of Tyler's bed, was soothing, and Reid felt himself nodding in agreement. He pulled his friend's shirt back down, and covered him back up, noticing with slight alarm that he was trembling again.

A knock at the door interrupted the silence, and his brown-eyed friend stood to let Pogue in.

Reid immediately sat up straighter. He noted that the biker must have gone back to his apartment, because he was wearing dry clothes. Then he remembered that the teen kept a change of clothes in Tyler's car. He never could figure out why—perhaps for occasions just like these.

"What'd you find?" he asked, eyes locked on his friend's intent ones.

"Nothing that could trace the damage back to us. I would have fixed it, but frankly, I didn't have the energy," Pogue said, rolling his shoulders and seating himself on Reid's bed after tossing Tyler's keys on his desk.

"What about Chase?" Reid heard Caleb ask.

"He wasn't there. There was a pretty decent size pool of blood, but he was gone."

Pogue didn't sound too happy. Reid thought it was because he wanted to beat the shit out of him some more.

"You sure he—"

Caleb cut himself off when Tyler groaned and shifted in the bed; he didn't wake, and the covenant leader continued in a lower voice to the others.

"You sure he wasn't there somewhere?"

"Nah," Pogue said, reclining on the bed and clasping his hands behind his head. "I looked all over. He was gone. Bet'chu he won't bother us for a while, after what you did to him, Caleb."

"I hope so. At least until I ascend." He said, and Reid watched him rub his hand over his face like he always does when he's stressed.

"C'mon, Caleb," The blonde offered, hoping to lighten the mood. "If you can do that to the bastard now, just think what you can do after you ascend."

Caleb just smiled in his direction after a moment, and thanked his friend.

All eyes darted to Tyler suddenly as he shifted again, sighing in his sleep. No one moved, but the brunette woke anyway, blinking his blue eyes sleepily.

His eyes landed on Reid first, and when he started to sit up, they all moved towards him, but the punk warlock was right there, and he carefully helped his friend into a sitting position.

The blankets fell to the youngest member's lap as his hand reached up to rub his chest.

"Ow," was his first waking word.

Reid chuckled while wincing, "Sorry, Baby Boy, didn't really have much of a choice."

Tyler glared, unable to keep the sleepy smile off his face at the same time.

The gambling genius suddenly looked hesitant, and couldn't meet his friend's questioning blue eyes.

"Reid, what's wrong?"

Reid winced. One, Tyler's voice was rough and sort of strained, most likely from coughing so hard earlier. And two, he wasn't sure how to go about apologizing. He only knew that he needed to.

"Tyler," the blonde began, finally looking up into his friend's eyes. He'd been taught to always look someone straight in the eye when saying something truthful. It was probably one of the only lessons he'd leaned from his father that had actually stuck with him through the years.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I don't know why I said it, but it was stupid and horrible of me and I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry, Tyler."

Reid stopped and waited for his friend's reaction. He could feel Pogue and Caleb's eyes on them, seeing as how this was what they were supposed to be doing tonight before all the chaos, but he didn't care that the other two had just witnessed Reid Garwin begging for forgiveness. It was important and he knew that.

"It's okay, Reid. I forgive you." Tyler's voice was soft, but there was a smile on his face, and Reid knew he'd truly been forgiven.

He laughed and pulled his friend into a hug, holding him tight for a few moments before releasing him. There was a blush on the brunette's face; apparently he wasn't used to so much attention.

"Tyler," Reid said, forcing the younger man to look at him. "You know all that stuff I said isn't true, right?"

Tyler looked down for a moment, and Reid hoped that the fact that he had already made his friend's feelings known to the others meant that it was okay to talk about it in the open.

"Right?"

Tyler still hadn't answered. But he looked up when the bed shifted and Caleb sat down on the end of it. "You're just as much one of us as any other member of this Covenant, Ty, maybe even more so."

"What do you mean?" the Magick user asked; Reid could see the confusion on his face as he faced their leader.

"Well, today, when we thought we were gonna lose you," Tyler looked down at the blankets with this statement, but Caleb continued. "You should have seen us. We were falling apart. We were so panicked that Chase had hurt you or killed you and we wouldn't be able to fix it."

"Yeah, Baby Boy, you had us scared shitless," Pogue said, placing a hand on Tyler's head from his new seat next to him on the bed.

"Seriously, Tyler, I think we'd all fall apart without you," Reid said, making his friend look at him with a finger hooked under his chin.

Tyler was silent for a moment, and Reid thought he wouldn't say anything else, but all of a sudden, he jerked his chin out of the blonde's hand, smiling as he said, "Alright, alright, I get it. You guys _love_ me. Now quit it with all this touchy feely shit."

Pogue barked out a laugh at this and ruffled his brother's hair. Caleb smiled and nodded, his grin quickly transferring to Tyler's face. Reid fell back into his chair, nearly guffawing at what his friend had said. It took him a moment to regain his senses, but when he did, he noted his lucky friend was looking tired, though happy.

"Why don't you get some more sleep, Tyler. Tomorrow's Saturday, so you can sleep in," Reid said, getting up from his chair and rolling it back to his desk.

"Don't you mean we can all sleep in?" Pogue chimed from his spot on Tyler's bed.

"Yeah, yeah," the blonde mumbled, waving at his friend half-heartedly.

"That's great guys, but I think we should all stay together tonight, just to be safe. We don't want Chase to try anything again," Caleb said, and Reid thought he added on the last sentence just to avoid sounding too sentimental. The blonde had to snicker at that.

"God," Pogue suddenly gasped, standing. "Kate's gonna kill me! I was supposed to meet her after Nicki's!"

Reid couldn't help but laugh at his friend's sudden realization—the biker looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Dude, Reid, it's not funny! You know how bitchy she can be," the teen defended, an incredulous glare on his face and a determined finger pointed in his direction.

"Chill, you guys," Caleb said, holding his hands out like the peacemaker he was. "Pogue, I'm sure she'll be alright for one night. It's not like you've done this to her before."

Pogue gave him a look.

"Recently," his leader amended.

"This is all well and good, but I think some of us would like to sleep," Reid said, indicating Tyler, who had already entered dreamland sitting up.

Chuckling, Pogue shook him awake, and helped him lay back down, covering him up. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

"You think he'll be okay?" Reid asked, finishing changing and pulling back the covers on his own bed.

"He'll be fine," Caleb said moving off the bed after pulling the covers more securely around their youngest member. He snatched an extra pillow from Tyler's bed and made himself comfortable on the floor, covering himself with his jacket.

Pogue locked the door, and settle on the hardwood floor too, snapping his fingers at Reid for a pillow. He got one in the face for his trouble.

Caleb laughed, having just caught that little exchange, and closed his eyes with a sigh.

Reid turned off the light, and everything was quiet for a moment.

Then…

"You know this ain't no fucking sleepover, right?"

x

x

end

x

* * *

x 

So, what did you think? I hope all the references were correct. Some of them I made up, but most of them are from the movie. Let me know what you think.

HauntedPast.

Review! That little button, right down there!


End file.
